The Band-Aid Budget, and further misdirection.

The article below and accompanying links should be read before this post, because it sets the stage for many of the things I am going to talk about. I will try to keep this brief.
First, many people, upon reading this post, will say, "Wait a second, didn't Bush just announce a huge budget increase for the National Park Service for fiscal year 2008? This guy is full of shit, man!" Actually, the Bush administration is full of shit, as usual.
What is actually happening is a big PR spin. See, the 100th anniversary of our National Parks is coming up, and Bushie-woo wants to make it seem like he cares about our natural resources, so he has increased the budget of the parks by almost exactly 1/2 the amount of money the War in Iraq uses every day, while promising increases down the road in a future where he will not be in office. Simultaneously, he has continued to fund the other natural resource management departments at the same level (or less) for the past 5 years, with no changes to account for inflation.
In 2006, a study by the Congressional Research Service, which provides nonpartisan research and analysis to lawmakers, estimated that the maintenance backlog (defined as scheduled or planned maintenance that has not been performed) ranges from 5.8 to 12.42 billion. Much needed repairs to bridges and roads into and out of the park alone exceed $3bil. The annual budget shortfalls for our parks are between 600-800 million dollars. So basically, his national park plans are just one more example of the administration giving us the big fat one right in the pooper, while making it look like they are doing us a favor. It all looks great until you actually do some research and see that the numbers just don't add up. But your average American won't know the difference, and the rest won't do anything about it. After all, Grey's Anatomy is on tonight!
Recently a couple got lost in Rocky Mountain National Park, they were doing a one night backpacking trip from one trailhead to another. After two or three days, their family formed a search party. They were eventually found on a cliffside, lost. What happened? Well, the trail they were following crossed a river, and the bridge had been washed out sometime in the past 5 years or so of underfunding. It of course wasn't posted, the couple reported "seeing no signs," and so when their trail ended they figured they had gotten lost and tried some fishing trails. They eventually got rim-rocked, where they couldn't go up or down. That is where they were found.
Because of underfunding, these people who just wanted to enjoy our national parks almost lost their lives. There were no signs posting the trail, warning that the bridge was out, no suggested alternate routes, and no Park Ranger to help them out with any of these issues. All of these things are because of a budget shortcomings forced by the Bush Administration and its preoccupation with, "Terror and war, war and terror, and war!"
What about protecting our natural resources, not so that they can be drilled and mined and exploited, but to be enjoyed? What about protecting the folks like that lost couple who just want to enjoy our beautiful nation. Well, I guess no one in the Administration cares for them, because they are just tree-huggers, and the loss of a member of that particular demographic just means one less vote for the other guy, right?
Does no one else see how screwed up our government is? Or does everyone see it, but are made so apathetic by media and spin that they don't do anything about it? What is wrong with this country?

The misdirection: looks good, but means jack!

For further reading, check out the December 2006 Issue of Mens Journal, page 172
Also, If you can get it, the Artical titled : The Future of Public Trust, it Issue #2 of the Wildlife Proffessional, published by the Wildlife Society.

This has been an original angry venting of legitimate concerns that no-one will listen to.

Our National Parks get the SHAFT!! (Thanks to Bush)

Millions of Americans will flock to the country's national parks this summer. Dazzled by nature and history, will they notice the missing signs, crumbling roads, or disappearance of park rangers?
Facing what some people warn is a "crippling" budget shortfall, many national park superintendents are being asked to consider cutting their ranger staffs, services, and visitor center hours—and possibly even closing down completely on certain days.
Several advocacy groups now charge that the entire National Park System is menaced by a hidden crisis, and that Park Service officials are trying to cover it up.
"Make no mistake about it. There is a chill over the National Park Service today," said Denny Huffman of the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees in Washington, D.C.The United States' 388 national parks contain more than 18,000 permanent structures, 8,000 miles (12,900 kilometers) of roads, 1,800 bridges and tunnels, 4,400 housing units, 700 water and wastewater systems, 400 dams, and 200 solid-waste operations.
The Park Service values these assets at more than 35 billion U.S. dollars, but for years it has been warning that it has not been able to keep up with the cost of looking after them. The estimated "deferred maintenance backlog" of these facilities is 5 billion dollars, the U.S. General Accounting Office reported to the U.S. Congress last year.

Endangered Rangers
The operating budget for the parks actually increased to 1.61 billion dollars in 2004 from 1.56 billion dollars in 2003. But the increase has been absorbed by rising expenses, Park Service officials say.
Now cuts have to be made.
"We're concerned that the National Park Service is quietly asking superintendents to make cuts in summer operations, such as lifeguards on beaches and closing visitor centers on peak days, weekends, and holidays," Huffman said.
In a new report called "Endangered Rangers," the National Parks Conservation Association, a Washington-based parks watchdog group, said U.S. national parks are underfunded by as much as 600 million dollars a year. It claims the parks are getting just two-thirds of the funding they need, leading to severe staffing shortages and deteriorating park facilities.
In parks across the country, public education programs have been reduced or eliminated, the report says. Historic buildings are allowed to deteriorate, sometimes until ceilings collapse. Priceless museum collections are piled up in damp basements. Wildlife and artifacts are poached.
"America's national park rangers have become an endangered species," said the association's president, Thomas Kiernan.

"Service Level Adjustments"
Some critics charge that the National Park Service is purposely misleading the public and media about the cuts.
On Wednesday, a group of former park officials released an internal National Park Service memo distributed last month to park superintendents in the Northeast Region.
A copy of the memo, with the sender's name blanked out, is published on the Web site of the Campaign to Protect America's Lands. The memo states that "the majority of Northeast Region Parks are beginning this fiscal year with fewer operating dollars" than in 2003. Additionally, it says, staff costs and rising fixed costs have further eroded operating dollars.
"It is now time … to determine what actually has to happen to stay within the funds you have been allocated," the memo said.
The memo suggested possible cuts—"just examples"—that superintendents could consider:

• "Close the visitor center on all federal holidays."
• "Eliminate life guard services at 1 of the park's 3 guarded beaches."
• "Eliminate all guided ranger tours."
• "Let the manicured grasslands grow all summer."
• "Turn 1 of our 4 campgrounds over to a concession permittee."
• "Close the park every Sunday and Monday."
• "Close the visitor center for the months of November, January & February."

The e-mail memo urges park superintendents not to directly use the phrase "this is a cut" in press releases about such service reductions. "We all agreed to use the terminology of 'service level adjustment' due to fiscal constraints as a means of describing what actions we are taking," the memo said.
In a telephone interview David Barna, a spokesperson for the National Park Service, said there is "no reason to think the memo was not authentic." The memo was sent on February 20 by Chrysandra Walter, the deputy director of the Park Service's Northeast Region division.
The alliance of advocacy groups that disclosed the memo—the Coalition of Concerned National Park Retirees, the Association of National Park Rangers, and the Campaign to Protect America's Lands—also criticized the National Park Service for firing U.S. Park Police Chief Teresa C. Chambers in December of last year after she complained publicly about budget shortfalls.
"There's now a culture of fear in the Park Service," said Laurel Angell of the Campaign to Protect America's Lands. "Everyone is afraid to disclose budget cuts."

Shifting Priorities
The Park Service's Barna dismissed the charge that his agency is hiding program cuts from the public. He said superintendents are simply asked to inform main offices if they are closing down any major services.
"We don't want any surprises," he said. "We don't want someone to go on television, locking the front gate to the park and saying, 'We're out of money, we're closed.'"
Barna agreed that the National Park Service is now operating "on the edge," and that service cutbacks may happen. "Certainly we recognize that our operating budgets are tight," he said.
In recent years the agency has had to absorb costs that were out of its control, Barna says. Last year, it spent 50 million dollars on fighting forest fires and 150 million dollars on recovering from Hurricane Isabel.
Homeland security is also expensive. Each change in the color-coded U.S. Homeland Security Advisory System from yellow to orange costs the National Park Service a million dollars a month, as, for example, additional rangers are brought in to protect national landmarks.
"We'd be remiss in our duties if we didn't protect these monuments," Barna said. "If something were to happen to the Lincoln Memorial while we were not watching it, that would be devastating. Our priorities have absolutely shifted."

http://www.sierraclub.org/wildlands/wildlandsatrisk/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/16/AR2006041600612.html

-The above article is a CutNPaste Prodiction of an article from a few years ago on the National Geographic Website, I have included links to more recent articles, but I think it is important to note the state of things before Bush announced his "Band-Aid Budget" for parks this year.

Barack Obama for President!

If you haven't already, you should take a look at Barack Obama as a real presidential candidate. If you hear him speak, then you will immediately believe in him, and his ability to lead this country towards a better future.
I could talk for hours about how I think Obama is the type of leader that this country needs, about how it has been so long since we had a leader to be proud of, that we have forgotten what a real leader should be. I could tell you about how I have been ashamed of our country's leadership for six years now, because our president looks out only for himself and his close constituents instead of us, his people. I could rage about how the general public is so apathetic and blinded by propaganda that they ignore bad deeds that would not be accepted by a weak-minded imbecile incapable of moral judgments, but are allowed because "he is our president, and we have to stand behind him. He's doing the best that he can."
Perhaps he is doing the best that he can. For himself. I want someone that watches out for the american public to lead my country.
Our world can be better than it has been for the past eight years. Things (the war, the economy, health care, education, environmental policy, civil rights) aren't going downhill as a result of tough times in the world. Things are going downhill because our country is being run by incompetent, narcissistic, group-thinking, money-grubbing, assholes who don't give a shit about anyone so long as their pockets are filled, and the people keep thinking they are "doing the best that they can." What they want you to believe is that the world is a tough place, and things are getting worse in spite of their best efforts. They want you to think that they are running this country better than anyone else can. That just isn't true.
I will admit that the world is a tough place, but things can be a lot better than they are.
However, I don't think that Hillary Clinton is the one to take us there. Too many people can't stand her. I don't like her, and I am the most staunch liberal you will ever meet. Clinton, like Bush, polarizes this country. In a time when what we need is someone to unite the country into a common front, Hillary will split us as surely as Moses parted the Red Sea. So many people may be mobilized against her that the GOP could even maintain control of the Whitehouse. I would rather die.
So, while I could rant and rave for hours (this is a short rant, I assure you), I know that I can't change peoples minds just by telling them something. So, I simply suggest that you listen to what Barack Obama has to say. I assure you that he is not as far to the left as I am. In fact, I wouldn't even place him on that sort of scale. Obama can be a uniting force for a divided country, and I think that once you hear him speak, you will see what I mean. I choose Obama as my next president, because he will work hard to heal the wounds inflicted on us by our own leadership for the past six years. He can lead us into a better future, and a better America, something which we have been without for far too long.

Green Lantern

I just want to take a sweet moment to comment on the Green Lantern. Many of you may not know who this is, so at the risk of undermining my heretofore established serious tone, I will fill you in.
Green Lantern is a superhero from the DC Comics Universe. He is a normal guy who's only weapon is a little green ring (a veritable "power ring," as it were) given to him by an ancient race of powerful beings who fashion themselves the Guardians of the Universe. The ring is fed power from a huge battery on the Guardian homeworld of Oa, via a miniature power battery possessed by the Green Lantern himself. This mini-battery is shaped like a lantern, as is the one on Oa. They are both green (I know, right?), and emit energy of the same color of the spectrum.
The key to using the power of the ring is the reason that I love this character so much. By channeling ones own will through the ring, you can manifest anything you can imagine! Given, whatever it is is glowing green and only lasts as long as you will it, but still, the possibilities are nearly endless! Also, the power ring has a limited charge and needs to be powered up every so often from the battery.
It addition, the ring enables the wearer to fly (by willing it), and puts up a forcefield around the wearer protecting him from harm. The ring can also aid in biological functions such as breathing when oxygen availability is scarce (underwater, in space, or high altitude), poopin' and peein', and providing sustenance when food and water aren't available.
The Green Lantern of Earth is only one of 7200 members of the Green Lantern Corps, with two assigned to each of the 3600 sectors of the known universe. The Corps is a sort of intergalactic peacekeeping force, with the rings given to people of great will, able of overcoming great fear.
Indeed, the only weakness of the ring is ones own fear, embodied by a difficulty in affecting anything of the color yellow, the color of fear. This weakness can be overcome by the force of the ring-bearer's will, once he is aware of the fear itself.
I love the idea of the Green Lantern because his power is limited only by his own imagination and strength of will, but is otherwise a normal human being. I have always wanted to fly, and have often wished I would live to see the day when we could explore the rest of the galaxy. However, even the power of the ring is limited by the bearers fear.
I believe that we, as normal humans, can accomplish anything we set our minds to, limited only by our own imagination or lack thereof. It is for this reason, despite my almost equally huge appreciation of the iconic Superman, that Green Lantern is my favorite superhero.
You may call me a dork, and by some standards you might be correct. But I live by my own standards, and my universe is limited only by my own mind. How 'bout yours? Poozers...

Change (or lack thereof)

After having a lengthy internet discussion with a good friend of mine concerning politics, the state of our nation, and the American love of artificially induced economical comfort, I am convinced that you can not change peoples minds of anything. You can only present the evidence so that when something happens, and they change themselves, it will be there for them to see. You could write it on a wall it big block letters, but until someone is ready to see it, they will forget how to read. I don't know what it is that opens peoples eyes, but I think it is different for everyone.

You can only change yourself. Do what you do because you know it to be the best you can possibly do. Do it for yourself. But don't waste time trying to convince people of something that they can not see. One day they will understand, or they won't. No matter how eloquent you are, if someone is not ready, they will find a reason to ignore what you have to say. Lead by example and one day, maybe someone will realize that there is a different way to be.

My friend is good man, he is truly one of the most caring people I have met. But he repeatedly turns his head away from the obvious, as do so many good people. I do not think less of him, but it saddens me. If his mind can't be changed, then no-one's can, because he is truly a receptive individual on most everything else.

I believe we are so concerned these days with "paying the mortgage" or watching out for our own backyard that we forget the rest of the world does not live this way. A teenager in the US whines about not getting a nice car for his 16th birthday, or graduation. That same teenager has no idea how good he has it. In Africa and all over the world, teenagers are fighting for their lives, dying for nothing. These children may never even see a car unless it is loaded to the gills with gun-toting militiamen, and even then only for a split second over a shoulder as the youth runs for his life.

The level of prosperity that we enjoy in this country is only because other nations live in poverty, and we take advantage of that. The US has been on an elevated platform for so long, that we forget how it is to be one of many. We forget how to walk in other (wo)mens shoes. Or that some people don't even have shoes.

I need a new pair of Nike's, made in Malaysia for fifteen cents, now only $99 at foot locker. Where does the profit go? Not to the country of origin. How much would those shoes cost if they were made by American hands? Could we afford them? Shouldn't Malaysians get paid the same for making the same shoes? What happens when every Chinese citizen that used to get paid a nickel to make outsourced plastic junk starts to get paid as much as Americans did before we "outsourced"? Who will we take advantage of then to maintain our false sense of economic superiority? No-one. Then we will be the ones getting the s***-end of the stick, because there will be no-one else to give it to.

If we truly have a better way of life, then it had better be available for everyone. But the truth is that the system wouldn't work if everyone played on the same level field.

Thanks again for reading, I know this one is a little farther to the left than some might want, but in the future I will try to keep it in check. Please comment, even if it is negative. Open dialog is one of the beauties of our country that many people from many nations don't enjoy.

Never Lose Sight of the Clouds

I am a student of Wildlife Management at West Virginia University, and a proud American. Lately (the past six years or so) my pride has been stressed to the limit by many shameful acts perpetrated by the current administration in my (our) name(s).

As a conservationist and joint "owner" of our public lands, I have been disgusted by the direction of natural resource policy in our country. The level of exploitation in the name of industrial profits has never before been witnessed in this country, at this, the moment we can afford it least. With climate change roaring over the horizon, now is the time to focus our efforts on that battle. Instead, because of the careless disregard shown by the Bush Administration and his appointees for the American right to conserve public lands and natural resources, we are fighting to maintain that which we thought was safe.

In order to make up for budget shortcomings, the administration has proposed the sale of 270,000 acres of public lands. Our public lands. My public lands. Your public lands. This is above and beyond the land already leased to industry for various levels of exploitation. Teddy Roosevelt , the creator of our first national park, is rolling over in his grave. As we all should be, if we were dead as well. But we are alive and as such should be kicking and screaming at the casual disregard for our wishes, and the careless handling of our most precious belonging, our future.

The Endangered Species Act is under constant threat from attacks by the appointees of President Bush, and every attempt is being made to weaken the only protection afforded to some of our most threatened American wildlife. Why? To make way for industry, specifically oil and gas developers. If one day I need to take my children to a zoo to see species I grew up seeing in the wild, then we have failed our wildlife, and it will be a sad day indeed.

Meanwhile, as global temperatures warm, the rest of the world is poised to do something about it. We Americans, who should be leaders, are way behind the game. Still buying larger and larger cars, with no regulation on fuel economy, we spew more greenhouse gases into the environment with every SUV purchased. Car makers are slow to develop technology that would improve MPG because they don't have to. If, through taxes, we make it more expensive to produce non-economical vehicles (NEV's) than it would be to develop new technology, it would amaze us how fast MPG would rise. The money gained by taxing these NEV's could then be put towards research on alternate energy sources. With this program, if someone still needed/wanted to drive an NEV, they could, but by paying their NEV tax, they would be furthering the search for a more permanent solution.

Drilling for more undiscovered oil is (at best) a temporary solution to a permanent and worsening program. I liken it to selling your appliances to pay the electric bill, when all you need to do is put in some hard work. We have many gifted scientists willing to work on this problem, all they need is support, funding, and the ear of someone willing to make changes. Our current president is not that person.

I believe that Barack Obama is the person to walk with us all into a brighter future, to listen when we speak, and speak what we need to hear. At a time when we all must work together to solve major issues, the last thing we need is to be split apart. Our nation is more divided now than ever, but it doesn't have to be that way. Open your eyes to a new path that we can all walk together.

Thank you for your time, I appreciate you taking a moment out of your busy life to listen the the rantings of a proud American. There will be more to come, I assure you.

Your Friend,

Jesse Phillip Cecil